The present invention relates to a firefighting apparatus, such as a fire truck, a trailer or other vehicle, and more particularly to a firefighting apparatus including an extendable crosslay hose bed.
There are a variety of fire trucks and rescue vehicles that include storage areas for storing flexible fire hose and other equipment useful in rescue and firefighting operations. Typically, fire hose has dedicated storage areas on a chassis of a fire truck. These storage areas come in many forms. One is a side stack hose bed which generally is a box shaped container located in a rearward part of the truck. The side stack hose bed is mounted over the rear axle of the truck, and extends longitudinally, aligned parallel to a longitudinal axis of the truck. The fire hose is carefully folded over and over upon itself in one or more special lay patterns, and stacked in one or more stacks in the side stack hose bed.
Another storage area is a crosslay hose bed. A crosslay hose bed is a container or bed that lies across or perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the truck. A crosslay hose bed typically extends across the entire width of the truck so that the hose can be selectively accessed from either the driver or passenger side of the truck.
Conventional crosslay hose beds frequently are mounted high on the truck. One reason for this is so that a user can throw several layers or lengths of hose over their shoulder and pull the hose from the crosslay hose bed. Another reason is because the hose bed may be mounted over a pump or other control on the truck to conserve space. Whatever the reason, the location and orientation of the crosslay hose bed makes it somewhat difficult and cumbersome to load the fire hose in the crosslay hose bed after use of the hose has ceased. Many times, a user accesses an upper deck of the truck to reach and neatly stack the hose in the crosslay hose bed. In some cases, the truck will be outfitted with a dedicated standing platform extending across the truck. A user will stand on this platform to access the crosslay hose bed and load it with hose. This platform, however, can consume needed space on the truck.
Thus, while crosslay hose beds and other storage beds on fire trucks are currently available and helpful in a variety of situations, there remains room for improvement in their function, operation and utilization.